Phantom

First off, I am not a fan of Independent movies and find most boring or to artsy. I heard about Phantom for the first time when I watched a late night TV talk show. My interest was peaked so I went to see it an the local theater that shows this Independent movies. From the opening scene, I was hooked. My only issue was that unless you had seen other movies of this type, with the cast speaking English right from the beginning, you did not know that this was supposed to be Russian. But if you listened you could hear that they were talking about Russian locations, but the people that went with me had to ask me about 15 minutes into it if this was supposed to be Russian Navy. This movie hooks you and draws you into the life aboard a WW2 Era sub. Having actually been on this old sub as it sat in mothballs, I can tell you that there is no room for camera gear and how they filmed the inside with crew boggles me. Duchovny and Harris were spectacular in this movie and made the movie believable. The story line was very interesting and I was sad to see the movie end, but being based on a true story really peaked my interest and now I need more information. Please go see this movie, support this filmmaker, I am not associated with any of the movie or players, but for a Non Independent film watcher to love an Independent movie is really saying something.

Much is made of perceived weaknesses in "Phantom," most notably the absence of Russian accents. This doesn't bother me, certainly no more than watching anything by the BBC in which everyone, regardless of character nationality, has an accent found somewhere in the British Isles. I'm not familiar with the minutiae of Soviet era submariners, so I can't suitably critique the proper etiquette or uniform details. Looked accurate enough for me to accept it. If you're willing to look past that, you'll be able to enjoy a competent, if slightly derivative, submarine flick. Frankly, it's worth watching for the performances of Ed Harris (the sub captain) and William Fichtner (Harris's second in command) alone. They carry the movie, and, in my case at least, kept me watching through to the end. David Duchovny, as the rogue KGB agent is a little harder to accept, but I suspect that has less to do with his performance than my own inability to not think, "What the hell, Mulder?" every time I see him. The supporting characters do their best with what they have, and honestly, I admire anyone who can work in even a mock submarine's space. Ultimately, this movie is about sacrifice, whether on the part of the family separated by military service, or the things one is willing to do for the sake of one's nation. If you've actually read this far into the reviews, or even this far into this one review, I think you'll be engaged enough that it won't be a waste of your time to watch "Phantom," especially if you can see it via whatever instant service you use. Like it says above, it's not "Das Boot," but really, what else is?

"There are only 2 reasons for a boat to go rogue. One is to defect and the other is to start a war and I don't think we're defecting." This movie is based on actual evens set during the Cold War between the US and the USSR. After returning home and excited about being on leave the A Russian sub captain (Harris) and crew are stunned when they are chosen to go on another mission right away. The mission is classified and the only one on the sub that knows the details is a KGB agent Duchovny). When certain details emerge the crew starts to rethink the orders they are given. I was looking forward to seeing this for really one reason. I am a huge Ed Harris fan. He did not disappoint in this movie. The movie itself is also really good and the best way to describe it is a mix of Hunt For Red Octber and Crimson Tide. The fact that the movie is true makes it even more interesting to watch. It is a little predictable but that does not take away from the enjoyment of the movie at all. If you are a fan of movies like Red October then this movie is for you. I recommend this. Overall, very tense and exciting. I give it a B+.

'PHANTOM': Three Stars (Out of Five)

Cold War submarine thriller starring Ed Harris, David Duchovny and William Fichtner. It was written and directed by Todd Robinson, who's also directed multiple documentaries (on subjects ranging from rock music to Billy the Kid) and wrote the 1996 Ridley Scott directed sailing thriller 'WHITE SQUALL'. The film is about the captain of a Soviet missile submarine, during the Cold War, who must stop a rogue KGB agent from taking over his ship and seizing the nuclear missile onboard. It's loosely based on actual events of a missile crisis in 1968 involving the K-129 sub. It sort of plays out like a second rate 'THE HUNT FOR RED October'. It had a very limited theatrical release (in which it made about one eighteenth of it's $18 million budget back) and the film has received harsh criticism for it's inaccurate depiction of a Soviet sub (and no attempt was made to have the actors speak Slavic at all, with subtitles, or speak with accents). The film is definitely cheesy at times but for the most part it's intense and amusing. The acting is great as well.

Harris plays a Soviet Navy captain named Demi, in the 1960s, who's set to retire when he's asked to go on one last mission with his old crew on his old ship. Demi feels his career has been a disappointment and is still haunted by mistakes he made in his past, which cost the lives of several of his men (he also suffers from seizures at times, due to a past injury). So he jumps at the chance to command his ship on one last mission, and possibly redeem himself, even if it's a mysterious classified one. He's joined on the mission by a KGB group, lead by a man named Bruni (Duchovny), who obviously have ulterior motives. It soon becomes apparent that Bruni and his men have went rogue as they seize control of the ship and the missile on board. It's up to Demi and his loyal men to stop them before they start a nuclear war.

The film co-stars the likes of Lance Henriksen, Johnathon Schaech and Sean Patrick Flanery. Like I said the acting is all more than decent. Harris is always a pleasure to watch and Fichtner is a likable and interesting actor as well. Duchovny is kind of just menacing and mysterious in this but he fits the part. The directing I'd say is adequate; the mood and atmosphere are decent. It's the script that could have used some more work, I especially didn't like the ending (which is by far the most cheesy part of the whole movie). Up until the ending I was into it though. It's not nearly as good as something like 'THE HUNT FOR RED October' but it was fun and suspenseful enough to keep my interest. Movies like this aren't a bad way to pass the time, in my opinion, at least.

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Submarine films are few and far between - which is a shame, because there are few settings which breed tension in the way that a steel coffin submerged 200m below the sea's surface can. 'Phantom' isn't groundbreaking, but if you're after tension, heroism, drama and bravery, few current new releases deliver in the way that this movie does. There are a few real tearjerker moments - and at the end of the day, the movie does what it says on the box. Submarine. Conflict. Awesome. Sure, it's not going to fetch many stars from the art-house crowd - but if you want a simple, tense actioner; that doesn't ask you to suspend belief too much - you could do much, much worse.